Joined: Fri May 25th, 2007, 20:56 GMTPosts: 1494Location: New York City

zagonga wrote:

DYLAN.THAT VOICE..

Listening to Dylan last night at the London Palladium a thought kept running through my mind.How he uses his voice in so many unique ways.Sharp staccato type bursts.Slow drawn out syllables, stretching across words.Reshaping lines into almost impossible formats, and just when it seems its too late to fit it in....he nails it every time.

The voice is perfect.Ravaged through time into the sound of a growl reminiscent of an old carnival barker, it also has the ability to offer unique tenderness.The sound of Duluth is there, the twang, the characteristics of old.It pierced the air and stunned me in new ways all over again.He has travelled many paths.And so has this voice.

And Dylan knows its value.No one can bend words like him.On Desolation row I was smiling throughout, it was a masterclass of invention and phrasing.He takes joy in using it, and his band respond to this 'on the spot' reinvention over and over again.The voice soars and leaps through time.

Last night he finished a song, and stood staring into the upper circle, and turned....Then just for a moment, he turned and stopped and looked again and held his gaze.The crowd roared with approval.He connected for that special moment.One more time........

Was by far the most dylanesque Bob Dylan show I've seen - went from magical craft and vocal work one minute to lyric flubbing to great phrasing to missed lines and mumbling to Bob being Bob in almost every song. It felt the freshest of all the set shows I've seen because it didn't feel as tight as normal, and as such, all the arrangements felt exciting again. Anything could have happened, he could have given the strongest performance of his life or the wheels could have come off on every song. I've missed that excitementOther shows have been better but this was fun.

He looked like he was having a lot of fun too with some of his comedy dancing and phrasing. Thought i was sick to death of hearing erk and desolation row but he was really playing with his phrasing so wonderfully on those two that they were among my unexpected highlights.

My last show was Stockholm on the 1st Of The month and tonight was way better. Nice to get about 5 different songs from that night but he was having more fun tonight and that's when he's at his best I think.

I've never heard his piano playing sound as good as it did on to Ramona (live or on record).

I could have told you, stormy weather, highway, desolation and Ramona were my highlights.

What are my chances of getting a ticket now for the Sunday show at a semi-reasonable price? I know it's a long shot but I'm really starting to regret that I chose to skip this tour.

PM Blind Sammie.

Ah, just seen this but too late for me now, obviously. Thanks for the tip anyway. At least I got to stay home and watch the last episode of the cracking Line of Duty (I'm usually working on a Sunday night).

Bah, by replacing Don't Think Twice with To Ramona means I'm four points down at the Pool, the inclusion of I Could Have Told You in place of Why Try To Change Me Now offsets this by two points but it's still very inconsiderate of him. I wonder if sticking a few dollar bills in a brown paper envelope with my songpicks would work? I could leave it on his piano?

I quite agree but there seems to be no rhyme or reason about what stays and goes does there. We just have to accept what we're given, in it's defence I have to say that the two performances of Spirit On The Water that I have seen on this tour are way better than previous so although I really don't like the song it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. It is strategically placed and is ideally situated in the set for those who wish to go to the bar for a refill or make a toilet break. It may be kept in just for that reason as some people may not mind this song being interrupted as people shuffle past to the end of the row.

I quite agree but there seems to be no rhyme or reason about what stays and goes does there. We just have to accept what we're given, in it's defence I have to say that the two performances of Spirit On The Water that I have seen on this tour are way better than previous so although I really don't like the song it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. It is strategically placed and is ideally situated in the set for those who wish to go to the bar for a refill or make a toilet break. It may be kept in just for that reason as some people may not mind this song being interrupted as people shuffle past to the end of the row.

I'm pretty sure Dylan had the vision when he wrote it to.be able to utilize it as a toilet break song...!!!

I quite agree but there seems to be no rhyme or reason about what stays and goes does there. We just have to accept what we're given, in it's defence I have to say that the two performances of Spirit On The Water that I have seen on this tour are way better than previous so although I really don't like the song it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. It is strategically placed and is ideally situated in the set for those who wish to go to the bar for a refill or make a toilet break. It may be kept in just for that reason as some people may not mind this song being interrupted as people shuffle past to the end of the row.

I'm pretty sure Dylan had the vision when he wrote it to.be able to utilize it as a toilet break song...!!!

I think it entirely plausible - the same reason The Rolling Stones continue to keep Miss You in their set. Last time I saw them, the opening chords of the song were like alarm bells ringing for the audience - everyone was getting up out of their seats and it wasn't for disco dancing!

I gotta be honest, live, given it's the first song of the show, I'm just in awe of seeing BOB DYLAN for the first 5 minutes, so he could play it on the ukulele and I'd be OK! Both my seats on this tour were directly in front of the piano, so I had a great view of him bashing away

listening to all three London and ingate94 is right, the last day of residencies usually do have that great Toledo Zoo romance about them.

exiting van on busy street = sprezzatura

"Sprezzatura [sprettsaˈtuːra] is an Italian word originating from Baldassare Castiglione's "The Book of the Courtier," where it is defined by the author as "a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it". It is the ability of the courtier to display "an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them". Sprezzatura has also been described "as a form of defensive irony: the ability to disguise what one really desires, feels, thinks, and means or intends behind a mask of apparent reticence and nonchalance".

The word has entered the English language; the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "studied carelessness".

Castiglione wrote "The Book of the Courtier" as a portrayal of an idealized courtier—one who could successfully keep the support of his ruler. The ideal courtier was supposed to be skilled in arms and in athletic events but be equally skilled in music and dancing. However, the courtier who had sprezzatura managed to make these difficult tasks look easy – and, more to the point, not appear calculating, a not-to-be-discounted asset in a milieu commonly informed by ambition, intrigue, etc. Concerning sprezzatura, Castiglione said:

"I have found quite a universal rule which in this matter seems to me valid above all other, and in all human affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as though it were some rough and dangerous reef; and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain sprezzatura [nonchalance], so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it."

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